Before the Dawn
by AWildeRomantic
Summary: It took some time, but Charles Hoyt finally realized how he will break Jane Rizzoli, what her weak spot is. Tick tock goes the clock for all those times he watched her, tick tock goes the clock for the detective and her doctor. Rizzles.
1. Chapter 1: The Hourglass Runs Out

A/N - Couple quick things. Yes, for any _Doctor Who_ fans out there, Hoyt's rhyme is a shameless bow to Stephen Moffat. Also, Joyce O'Donnell is a character from the Rizzoli and Isles books. I find her creepy enough that I just had to bring her in on this one :D

* * *

Chapter 1: The Hourglass Runs Out

_Tick tock goes the clock_

_All the days he watched her_

Every afternoon he got a little time in the rec room under close supervision. Every afternoon he combed the stations for news, and he combed the news for local homicide reports. Usually there was nothing, but every so often he would catch on the screen a glimpse of what he was looking for. Jane Rizzoli. Tall and confident, her eyes bright, her dark curls bouncing whenever she tossed her head.

Even rarer, he would get a close up look at her, the sharp line of her jaw, the soft curve of her throat.

Today, like most days, it wasn't Jane in the spotlight of the cameras but the petite, caramel-haired Dr. Isles, poised, deft with a scalpel, cool-headed.

And that's when he noticed it.

Charles Hoyt let out a soft chuckle and steepled his fingers, pressing them to his lips as he leaned forward to get a better look at the screen. Yes, there it was: a little glance, a little touch, Jane's slender hand (still scarred, of course) lingering just a little too long on the good doctor's back.

"Gotcha, Jane," he whispered, leaning back in his seat.

_Tick tock goes the clock_

_For the detective and her doctor..._

* * *

Jane didn't need Maura to tell her the exact correlation between heat waves and crime waves. Hot summers made everyone stir crazy. Ma Rizzoli could've told you that. Even Maura was looking a bit flushed as she steered her Lexus through morning rush hour traffic on Storrow Drive. Jane leaned back in the passenger seat, folding her arms over her chest to keep herself from flipping off whatever _Masshole_ was tailgating them.

To their left the Charles River glittered in the morning sun. Today was going to be a scorcher, and judging by how fuzzy the buildings of downtown looked, it would be a nice sticky one too.

"You know," Jane said finally. "I think I'm actually envying your short skirt today."

Maura blinked. "Is the air conditioning not cold enough?"

"No it's...just _looking_ at the city is making me sweat." Jane huffed. Somewhere in the depths of her pocket, her phone buzzed. She made a great, disgruntled show of fishing it out, then didn't bother checking the display before she answered. "Rizzoli." Nothing. "Hello?..._Hello_? Okay, definitely not in the mood for this shit." She shut the phone off and tossed it into her lap, resuming the folded arm position.

"I'm not sure I want to know," Maura said quietly after she'd navigated her way off Storrow and into the current of downtown traffic.

"Probably just a wrong number."

"No, I meant what's got you in such an irritable mood."

Jane glared at her, then sighed, combing her fingers through her hair. "Nothing. Sorry. Just the heat. And Frankie's been staying late at work, so Ma is on my case about that because clearly that's _my _fault and it's all 'Jane you need to be looking after your little brother and making sure he doesn't let his job take over his life' except I don't think she realizes…"

Maura patiently listened as she drove. When they finally pulled into the parking garage, Jane drew a deep breath, pressed her hands to her face for a minute, and managed to give her friend a forced smile. Maura just shook her head, slinging her purse over one shoulder as they got out of the car.

In the elevator, Jane asked, "Am I crazy for thinking that something's about to happen? Something bad?"

"No." Maura peered at her. "But the uneasy feeling that we so often call a premonition can be attributed to any number of logical explanations. The feeling of a house being haunted, for example, is often due to anything from sounds that we don't even consciously pick up to unfamiliar smells…It could just be the weather, Jane."

"God, I hope so."

* * *

When Jane's cellphone rang barely two seconds after she sat down at her desk, she briefly wondered if something was actually going on. This time she checked the caller ID, but the number was unknown.

"Rizzoli." A minute later she tossed the phone down on her desk and announced to no one in particular, "That's the second time in an hour!"

Frost peeked up from behind his computer. "What?"

"Someone called and then didn't answer."

Korsak appeared beside their desk before Frost had a chance to answer. "You two ready to head out in five minutes? Beacon Hill, double homicide."

"So much for a relaxing weekend," Jane said. She stood and drained the rest of the coffee from her mug. "I'll go get Maura."

Two women in their late thirties had been disturbed during an otherwise quiet brunch at home. One glass lay broken on the polished wooden floor of the kitchen. The obviously lovingly prepared meal for two laid out on the table was juxtaposed by the harsh splatter of red on the butter cream colored wall behind it.

Jane sighed heavily as she knelt by the first of the two women, who lay sprawled in the doorway to the living room, her eyes wide and glassy.

"They were a couple," Frost said from where he stood examining the pictures on the front of the refrigerator. He looked over at Jane, swallowing down thickly as his gaze lingered on the blood splatter on the walls. "Suppose this was a hate crime?"

"Nah," Jane shook her head. "Blunt force trauma to the back of the head, stab wounds _and _a cut throat…way too much overkill. This has to have been personal. Besides, this didn't happen in a public place…" She straightened and walked through to the living room, where Maura was just telling her team to load up the second body.

"It's Meghan Ashbury," she said, her eyes wide as Jane walked over.

Jane frowned. "I don't know who that is."

"Very successful private attorney," Maura said. "She specialized in legal defense for white collar crimes…"

"Okay, so it could've been someone she went up against in a trial, we should get in touch with her clients, and check out what she's been up to lately." Jane turned, scanning the people moving about the luxurious apartment. She spotted a young, bright eyed officer and snapped her fingers to get his attention. "Hey. Officer Riley."

"Yes Jane – I mean, Detective Rizzoli?" He hurried over to her.

"Did you –"

"Just checked to make sure they've started dusting for latent prints, and I'll personally see that the evidence is delivered to your desk ASAP." He swallowed, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Yeah," Jane said, drawing out each letter the way she did when someone was trying her patience. "Coffee, large, black and a cappuccino for the Doc."

Riley hesitated for a second before nodding. "Yes, Detective, I'll be right back with those." He turned and bounded out.

"God, someone needs to stop giving that kid sugar or something," Jane grumbled, turning back to Maura as she stripped her gloves off. "He was a friend of Frankie's from school, only just got out of the academy. Hence the name slip." She caught the amused grin Maura gave her. "What?"

"That wasn't very nice, Jane," Maura chided softly. "I'm sure he's got more important things to do…"

"He's a newbie, it won't kill him to get us coffee." Jane wrinkled her nose. "Let's just call it punishment for his slip in professionalism. That and how freakishly obnoxious him and Frankie used to be..."

While Maura went to help her team with moving the second body, Jane walked over to a large oak desk beneath the front windows. She pulled on a fresh pair of gloves to nudge through the haphazard piles of papers and other miscellanea. She found a little metal business card holder and popped it open, finding it full of different cards, no doubt from Ashbury's clients.

One in particular made Jane pause. "Korsak!" she called, looking over her shoulder. When her old partner made his way over to her, Jane held up the card. "She knew Joyce O'Donnell."

"Who's Joyce O'Donnell?" Frost asked as he joined them.

"Doctor who's almost as psychotic as her patients." Jane looked up at Frost darkly. "She's worked with Hoyt. She finds him…fascinating."

* * *

Jane entered autopsy a couple hours later to find Maura quite literally elbow deep in Meghan Ashbury. Having just gotten off the phone with some egotistical jerk at the dead woman's law firm, Jane had half a mind to text him a picture of the scene before her. But that might have been a bit harsh.

"Hey." Jane wrinkled her nose as she approached the autopsy table. "You find anything?"

"Nothing unusual for someone who was so brutally attacked."

"…She says oh so casually." Jane shook her head and laughed.. "Anyway, I got the files on her if you want to see them..."

Maura nodded and stepped back from the table, tugging off her gloves before following Jane into the office. Jane sat down and brought up her email, scrolling through the lists of Ashbury's latest cases. "I don't see anything that seems like it would be worth killing the defense attorney over, not in the last couple years. I still don't want to rule it out though."

"She definitely sustained worse injuries than her wife," Maura said.

Jane glanced up. "Seems like the attack was probably directed against her, then." Giving up on the files, she closed her email and followed Maura back into autopsy.

"Jane!" Maura's voice took on a startlingly worried tone. She hadn't even gotten a fresh pair of gloves on yet, but was looking down at the body, her eyes wide. "There's something in her mouth. There definitely wasn't something in there a minute ago!"

"Well she didn't just hack it up, Maura," Jane said, moving to her friend's side. "You probably just -"

"No, I checked her mouth, I know I checked her mouth!" Maura looked up and they stared at each other for a few seconds.

"Well..." Jane watched Maura pull on her gloves and pick up a pair of tweezers. "Where...also, what..."

"_Lavandula angustifolia._" Maura held up the tiny sprig of purple flowers for Jane to see. "Lavender." Swallowing, she deposited the plant in an evidence bag, then once again held it up to the light. "It was definitely placed there post-mortem, and the flowers are fresh so it was done recently..."

Jane raised her eyebrows. "So someone snuck in while we were on the computer and stuck a piece of lavender in her mouth? Why?"

"You use a lavender body spray," Maura pointed out.

"So what?" But Jane was already not liking the implications. A connection to Hoyt via Joyce O'Donnell. The smell of lavender and fear, she could practically hear him whispering it. _I really need to get a new perfume,_ she thought glumly. "It's a coincidence, Maura."

Maura nodded, but set back to work a little more stiffly than before. "So are you going to talk to her? O'Donnell, I mean."

"Huh? Hell no. According to the files, she just kept Ashbury on retainer, hadn't used her in a couple years." Jane made a face. "No way I'm talking to her if I don't have to. Anyway, I'm gonna go grab another cup of coffee..."

"You really shouldn't have more caffeine, you're already shaking," Maura said without looking up.

Jane scowled. "I'm not shaking." But she clenched her fists at her side as she strode out anyway.

She had just hit the up button on the elevator when her phone buzzed. "Again?" Jane breathed, tugging it out to see 'Unknown Caller' on the display. She huffed and answered, "Rizzoli."

"_Hello, Jane. It's _so _nice to hear your voice again._"


	2. Chapter 2: What's Missing

Chapter 2: What's Missing

Cavanaugh looked up with a furious scowl as a whirlwind of angry detective stormed into his office. He couldn't claim to be one of Jane Rizzoli's closest friends, exactly, but he'd worked with her long enough to know the different types of Rizzoli anger. There was the pissed off at traffic, pissed off at a perp, and the kind that meant she was actually scared but just had either the balls or the ego to ignore it.

"Did you know?" Rizzoli growled, slamming her palms down on Cavanaugh's desk. "Did you know he was out?"

"What the hell…" Cavanaugh sighed and pushed aside the report he had been trying to work on. "We only just got a call from the prison."

"And when were you going to tell me?"

The worried faces of Korsak and Frost appeared in the doorway. Cavanaugh turned his attention back to the woman in front of him, and returned her glare. "When we'd come up with a plan for protecting you."

"Protecting me?" Now Rizzoli threw her hands in the air. "Hoyt just called me from a payphone in Braintree. But don't worry, I already called the local PD. Except I'm sure he's going to be gone by the time they get there." She glared down at him, clearly waiting for what he was going to do next. Finally she said quietly, "I'm not letting him do this to me again."

"I know." Cavanaugh eyed her thoughtfully. She might be upset, but she was a tough girl. If anyone could put that son-of-a-bitch in his place, it would be Rizzoli.

"I'm going to talk to Joyce O'Donnell," she said, running her fingers through her hair. "She had a connection to the Beacon Hill couple, and she has a connection to Hoyt. Either way, that woman needs to start giving me answers."

Cavanaugh nodded. "Take Frost and Korsak with you."

"No shit."

"Hey, Rizzoli." He gave her a stern look, the one he saved for when he needed to remind her who she was talking to. "I'm letting you have this one, okay? Most people wouldn't. So keep it in line." As though telling that to Detective Rizzoli would do anything.

"Uhuh. Can I…?" She gestured towards the door and he waved her on out.

* * *

Dr. Joyce O'Donnell never looked pleased to see anyone from the Boston PD in her office, least of all Jane. Maybe it was because she worked with Hoyt. Maybe it was that she knew how aware everyone was of her close connection to some of the city's worst psychopaths.

_Or maybe she's just as crazy as they are_, Jane thought as she strode into the primly furnished office.

O'Donnell looked up at Jane with a neutral expression. "Detective Rizzoli. I figured I'd be seeing you soon."

"Oh yeah?" Jane could feel her lip curling. "And what lead you to that brilliant deduction, the fact that your best friend is out of prison again? When was the last time you talked to him? And don't even think about pulling that doctor-patient confidentiality crap on me, as far as I'm concerned, that hardly applies."

The other woman pursed her lips. She opened a drawer in her desk and removed a thick file folder, flipping through it. "I had a session with him last week."

"Did he talk about me?"

"He always talks about you, detective." O'Donnell seemed to take special pleasure in telling her that.

Jane cast an exasperated look behind her at Frost and Korsak, who both stood by the door, scowling. She looked back to O'Donnell and sighed. "Did you hear about Meghan Ashbury?"

"I did. That is very tragic."

"Did you ever talk to Hoyt about her?"

O'Donnell blinked. "Excuse me? What does Charles Hoyt have to do with my attorney?"

"I don't know," Jane said, putting her hands on her hips. "I just find it a little too much of a coincidence that someone with a connection to you is murdered, just as one of your patients escapes."

"Except that's all it is," O'Donnell said. "A coincidence. I don't see what Hoyt could have to do with her murder."

"I'm not buying it. What did he say to you the last time you talked?"

"You know I can't tell you that."

Jane put her hands on the desk and leaned forward. "I'll get a goddamn court order."

"Have fun with that," Joyce said, deliberately closing the file folder and putting it back in the drawer.

Jane let out a little laugh. "You know, I swear to god, it's like you don't want him to be put back in prison."

For whatever reason, that comment got to her. O'Donnell sighed and fixed her eyes on Jane. "He said what he wanted most is to give you a different perspective of things. Of what he does. To see it from the other side."

"There is no way in hell I will ever understand why that monster does the things he does."

"I don't think that's what he meant," O'Donnell said. There was no sympathy, barely any emotion at all in her gaze as she continued to look back at Jane.

Jane pushed herself back from the desk. "We'll be in touch." She turned and stalked out of the office, Frost and Korsak on her heels.

"There's three points of view in what he does," Korsak said as they headed back out to the car. "Our view as cops, Hoyt's view, and the victims' view."

"I'm never gonna empathize with him," Jane growled. "And I'm sure as hell am not going to let him make me a victim again. The only view I want right now is him behind bars. Or better yet, on Maura's autopsy table." They reached the car and she turned in time to see the two men exchange a wary look.

"We're going to get him, Jane," Frost said, squeezing her shoulder as he moved past her to circle around to the passenger side.

Jane let out a soft grunt, sliding into the drivers seat. For a moment she rested her elbows on the wheel, running her hands over her face. This was going to be the last time, she promised herself. The absolute last.

* * *

"Hey, lady helicopters, can you both please cut it out?"

Angela and Maura both fixed Jane with almost identical looks of innocence, Except Maura's was legitimate, while Ma Rizzoli's was far from it.

"We're just worried about you, babe," Angela said, busying herself with draining a pot of pasta. The three women were in Maura's brightly lit kitchen. In the living room Frankie watched the Celtics game on TV. Angela leaned over to kiss her daughter's cheek when Jane reached to grab the bottle opener. "We're not hovering, we're just trying to protect you."

Jane raised her eyebrows. "Oh yeah, Ma, what're you gonna do? Take down Hoyt yourself?"

"Did you know," Maura said, pausing in her salad preparations, "a study done in Tokyo a few years ago showed that maternal instincts towards our own offspring are actually hardwired into our brains? There are certain unique neurological circuits that activate when a woman is aware that her own child is in danger, and they're completely different from those that activate when another child or anyone else is."

Angela beamed. "See? I can't help it."

"You don't protect me from google-mouth over there!" Jane cried, gesturing at Maura with her beer bottle.

"That's because she's essentially mine too," Angela said.

Maura turned to smile at the older woman. "That's very sweet of you to say."

"Yeah yeah, give it another few months and you won't be too happy about it." Jane took a swig of beer and went to stand next to her friend.

Maura eyed the bottle in her hand. "I don't remember buying that."

"That's because _I_ put it in your fridge, I don't trust your beer choices." Jane smirked. "And besides, it's payback for those dresses you left in my closet."

"I just put them there in case I need them. They aren't for you to wear."

"And these aren't for you to drink." Jane poked the tip of her tongue out at Maura.

Maura rolled her eyes. "Very mature, Jane."

"What, you're not going to give me a mini lecture on how sticking out the tongue originated in some ancient Mesopotamian culture as a sign of…" Jane cut herself off with a giggle "Sexual dominance or something?"

"Jane!" Angela glared at her daughter and gestured threateningly with a wooden spoon. "Behave."

Jane made a face when her mother turned back around. Maura stifled a little laugh, shaking her head. As she finished tossing the salad, she reached over to rub Jane's arm lightly. "I'm glad you're able to relax," she said softly.

"Yeah, well," Jane shrugged, "just because Hoyt holds the cards right now doesn't mean he gets to ruin my life."

"Positive thinking," Maura said with a nod. "It's probably the most helpful thing you can do in traumatic situations."

Jane let out a soft laugh and gave Maura a nudge into the dining room. "Let's just go set the table, okay?"

* * *

"You're sure you're going to be alright?" Maura asked later as she watched Jane collect her things in the hall.

"Yeah." Jane tried to look reassuring. "I'll be fine, Maur. Frankie'll be watching the front door." She eyed her friend. "Maura?"

"You know I'm terrible at lying," Maura said, paling slightly. "I'm worried. About you."

"There'll be people watching my apartment, I'll be fine."

"What's inside can be just as harmful. The nightmares…"

"Gee," Jane rolled her eyes, "Thanks for reminding me. Look, Maura, do you _want_ me to stay?"

Maura fidgeted. "I just want you to get some sleep."

"I promise I will…text you if I wake up in the middle of the night with a nightmare, okay?" Jane reached out and squeezed her shoulder, then lightly touched Maura's hair. "I'm gonna be fine. See you tomorrow?"

Maura nodded. She held the door open for Jane, then wrapped her arms around herself as she watched the detective slip out into the steadily cooling evening.

* * *

Jane was one of the first in the office the next morning. As rush hour traffic started up in the street outside, she sat in the nearly empty bullpen going over the autopsy reports Maura had finished the day before. "Goddamn," she breathed. "I hate dead ends."

"You say something, detective?"

Jane looked up. "Officer Riley," she said, managing a tight smile at the bright-eyed young man. "You're here early. Thought Frankie said your shift wasn't until later."

"Yeah, I was up to uhh…" He gestured vaguely at the gym bag slung over one shoulder. "Thought I might as well come in and get some paperwork done. How's the Beacon Hill case coming?"

"It's…not doing much right now." Jane gave a little shrug then tried to not look too relieved when her phone buzzed. A text from Frost, saying she might want to get down to autopsy ASAP. She got to her feet. "'Scuse me, they need me downstairs…"

Getting in the elevator, she hoped that Maura had found something else on the bodies. However, stepping into the cool, sterile basement, all she found was a confused Frost standing in the door to the autopsy room.

"What the hell is Maura doing?" Jane asked, stepping up alongside her partner. They both watched for a few seconds as the medical examiner rushed around, pawing through drawers and cabinets in an uncharacteristically disorganized manner. Finally Jane cleared her throat loudly. "Hey, Maura…?" she held her hands out in a questioning gesture.

"My scalpels are gone." Maura said, straightening, eyes wide.

"Your scalpels…" Jane gaped for a moment, then scowled. "What, do you have a special set of sterling silver monogramed ones or something?"

Maura frowned. "Jane, sterling silver is very soft, it would be a highly impractical material…"

"Maura, joke, it was a joke." Jane waved her hand. "What do you mean?"

"I shouldn't say just the scalpels. I checked everywhere in the autopsy suite, _all_ of the non electrical cutting tools are missing."

Jane didn't want to deal with this. It was weird, sure, especially considering the sprig of lavender that mysteriously appeared the previous day. But at the moment Jane couldn't think about how all of Maura's tools could have wandered off. "Did you find anything else with the bodies?"

"Well I haven't been able to start working yet, have I?" Maura said icily.

"I'm sure you can find something to do for a while that doesn't involve cutting," Jane said, chalking her friend's behavior up to the fact that her autopsy room was now a mess, at least by Dr. Isles standards. "We'll be upstairs if you find anything." She gave Frost a nudge back towards the elevators.

"Just got a preliminary report back from CSU," Frost said as they walked.

"Please tell me they found something."

He shook his head. "Not really. But it's more what they didn't find. No signs of forced entry. They dusted for prints on the knobs of course, didn't even find the victims'."

"So whoever it was knew enough to take forensic countermeasures," Jane mused. The elevator doors dinged open and they stepped inside. "Who interviewed the neighbors?"

"Korsak and I got that," Frost said. "I talked to the guy in the unit attached to theirs. He's a trader at an investment firm, worked late the night before so he'd just gotten home and went to bed around 11am."

"That's right before Maura estimated the time of death to be."

"Yeah. Now here's the weird part. Neighbor had his windows open, all he remembers hearing is the doorbell ringing, then a man's voice, and Ashbury inviting him inside. Neighbor didn't think anything of it because they all sounded friendly."

Jane frowned, barely noticing as they stepped off the elevator and into the now busy bullpen. "God, you think they might have invited their killer in?"

"Would explain a lot."

"But Ashbury's an attorney," Jane said. "Even if she's in white collar crimes, she'd know better than to just let some strange man into her house."

"Maybe he wasn't a stranger. With the overkill on the bodies, it wouldn't be that far fetched to think the killer was someone they knew."

"Yeah…" Jane let out a sigh and dropped back into her desk chair. She slid open the drawer. A minute later she swore loudly, and yanked the drawer completely out, setting it on the desktop with a tremendous crash that made the entire room fall silent, all eyes on her. Jane stood up. "Okay, whose dumbass idea of a joke is this?" she growled.

Frost gaped at her. "Uh, Jane?"

"I found Maura's tools." Jane pointed to the drawer.

"Rizzoli!" Cavanaugh barked. "What's going on out here?"

Jane turned to him as he stalked over. "Sir someone took all of the medical examiner's cutting tools and put them in my desk drawer."

"So what? It's just one of the new guys having a laugh."

"I don't think it's very funny, sir." Jane gritted her teeth.

"Well neither do I," Cavanaugh said. "And when we find out who did, the little punk will be looking at a suspension, but until then we don't have time to deal with this. So take those back down to Dr. Isles and then get to work." When Jane continued to look at him, he let out a sigh. "What?"

"What if it isn't a joke?" Jane said. Her temper was starting to cool down by now, and the more she thought about this, the more she disliked it. "Yesterday someone sneaks in and puts a sprig of lavender in the mouth of one of the corpses, today someone does this. I don't know, but my gut is saying something's weird."

Cavanaugh gave her an exasperated look. "So what, you think Hoyt broke in?"

"I didn't say that!" Jane instantly stiffened. "I just meant something weird is going on."

"I'll have someone look at security footage, but I need you to get back to work." He gave her one last pointed glare before heading back to his office.

Jane sighed and picked up the drawer full of surgical tools. She turned, just in time to run into Korsak – literally – and send one of the scalpels clinking to the floor.

"Drop a knife, company is coming."

Jane gave him a warning growl and continued on to the elevator.


	3. Chapter 3: Divide the Day From Night

A/N – Sorry this update took so long! I had an awful case of writer's block. So I'm not even sure how exciting a chapter this is…but I can tell you that shit is about to go down.

Chapter 3: Divide the Day From Night

Jane looked up from her desk with a scowl. The station was starting to empty for the day, the early evening sunlight slanting through the windows and the sounds of rush hour traffic echoing in. Angela Rizzoli stood over her, holding what looked suspiciously like a garment bag.

"Ma, I don't even want to –"

"It's just a clean shirt and slacks for you to change into, babe," Angela said, draping the bag over the edge of Jane's desk. "Maura's taking us out for dinner tonight."

"I can't!" Jane protested, sweeping a hand at the papers on her desk. "I'm pulling a late night tonight to try and get through these things."

Angela pulled Frost's empty chair around and sat down facing her daughter. "You're a terrible liar, Jane. You've been so tense lately. I know you're just doing this so you don't think about…you know."

"About Hoyt? You can say it, Ma." Jane narrowed her eyes. "And yes. I'm sorry if it's so wrong that I don't want to think about the guy who wants to kill me and is running around completely unchecked!"

"Yeah but killing yourself with work isn't going to help!" Angela said, wide eyed. She reached over and patted Jane's arm rather vehemently. "If you're not ready to go in fifteen minutes I'm going to have Maura come up here and _make_ you get ready."

Jane snorted. "Maura? Really?"

"Seeing as you won't listen to your own mother," Angela said, getting up with a huff. "She's the only one who can get you to do anything. Sometimes I think you're more like a married couple than best friends."

"What?" Jane gaped at her. "Where the…hell did that come from?"

"Fifteen minutes!" Angela waggled a finger at Jane before walking away.

* * *

"My mother accused us of being a couple," Jane said as she walked into Maura's office a little while later, fully changed into the clean clothes Angela had brought.

Maura blinked at her. "Accused? Why would she think you're a lesbian?"

"She doesn't," Jane said, stifling a laugh. "At least I don't think so. Actually she said we just act like a couple."

"Well…" Maura draped her coat over one arm and shut off the lights before shepherding Jane out into the hall. "Most behavior that people associate as being strictly for romantic and sexual couples is just a side effect of the two people spending such a high percentage of their time together…I don't think it's a bad thing."

"Neither do I." Jane looked down at her, amused.

Maura tipped her head. "Then why did you use the word 'accused'?"

"You know what, never mind, lets just go get dinner, alright?" Jane said.

When they got up to the main entrance they found a very annoyed looking Angela waiting for them, along with Tommy, who shot Jane a warning look.

"What did I do?" Jane cried.

"Nothing." Angela shook her head. "Frankie's not going to be joining us. He got called out."

Tommy rolled his eyes. "Which is clearly his fault. I just bet Frankie is much happier breaking up a pub brawl in Southie than going out for a fancy dinner."

"You're as bad as your sister with that attitude of yours!" Angela said, wrinkling her nose. "Why can't you two be more like Maura?"

"What?" Tommy raised his eyebrows. "You mean completely oblivious to social – Ow!" He yelped when Jane hit him on the shoulder.

"Leave Maura alone!"

"He's not wrong though," Maura said with a little shrug. "I do tend to have difficulty recognizing sarcasm."

Something in her tone made the two siblings immediately look guilty. Jane wrapped her arm around Maura's shoulders as they left the station and headed for the parking lot. "Yeah, but you're also brilliant. And a total sweetheart, despite the fact that you like to cut up dead bodies. So no one cares."

* * *

As much as Jane hated to admit that her mother was ever right about anything, dinner proved to be a far better distraction than burying herself in work for the rest of the evening. Because it was Maura taking them out the venue wasn't anywhere that Jane could even think about going herself – a very upscale placed called _Rendezvous_ in Central Square.

"You really don't have to do this you know," Angela said as she looked over the menu, seeming to be boggled by the prices. She glanced up at Maura. "I mean, you've done so much for us already…"

Maura waved her hand. "I want to do this, Angela."

Jane could tell her mother still wasn't entirely okay with the whole having an expensive meal completely paid for, but it was Maura, and Angela had never had any problem letting her biological children buy her food.

Halfway through the meal, Jane's phone rang. Ignoring the look her mother was now giving her, Jane eased it out of her pocket. "Rizzoli."

"Hey Jane." It was Frost. "Uhm, you with your mom?"

Jane blinked in surprise. "Yeah, why, you wanna ask her out on a date?"

"You and her might wanna get over to Mass Gen. Frankie's…" His voice trailed off.

Jane felt suddenly cold. She also knew if she reacted, she was going to have to deal with her mother going into hysterics in the middle of the restaurant. Keeping her expression as neutral as possible she said, "What happened?"

"We're not sure, Reilly said the brawl was pretty bad, someone attacked them. Frankie's completely out of it, some kind of massive concussion."

"Jesus." Jane ran her fingers over her face. "Okay. We'll be right there." She hung up the phone and turned to the others. "C'mon, we gotta go. All of us."

Tommy frowned. "What?"

"I'll explain outside, lets just get this bagged up…" Jane anxiously waved the waiter over.

It felt like it took forever for them to get their food bagged and the bill paid. Angela's constant curious and worried looks at her daughter only made it drag on longer. Finally when they were back in the car, Maura behind the wheel, Jane leaned back in her seat with a sigh.

"Frankie's in the hospital."

* * *

This was why having two cops in the family made it so hard to ever relax. There was always the threat of something horrible happening. Jane couldn't count how many times nice pleasant dinners or outings had been interrupted by gruesome homicides. And then things like this happened, things that hit everyone close to home, and it all came down much worse.

Unable to listen to her mother's sniffling, or the steady beep of machines any longer, Jane had moved to the bench in the brightly lit hall. She leaned forward, her elbows on her knees, her face in her hands, trying to focus on the soft chatter from the nurse's station instead of the images of her little brother lying on the bed, badly bruised and cut, a tube down his throat. She heard the soft click of Maura's heels, and a moment later her friend sat beside her.

"I'm so sorry, Jane," Maura said. She hesitated, then reached over, rubbing Jane's back then wrapping her arms around her.

Jane leaned into the embrace with a sigh, letting her hands fall to her lap. "It was him, Maura. I don't know how."

"Hoyt?" Maura frowned. "Jane why…"

"He gets out and then one of my family members turns up in the hospital!" Jane said, straightening and looking at her friend in dismay. "You can't tell me that's a coincidence."

Maura made a soft noise, absently brushing Jane's hair back. When Jane fixed her with an expectant stare, she just shrugged and shook her head. "I don't know what to tell you, Jane. Do you want that to be the answer?"

"What? God no!" Jane gritted her teeth and made a frustrated noise. "I just, I want to know. So I can figure out what I need to do to protect my family."

They both looked up at the sound of more footsteps to see Cavanaugh and two uniformed cops approaching. Cavanaugh gave Jane a slight nod.

"I heard what happened," he said. "Officer Meyers is going to stand guard outside the room, Franklin will keep watch at your apartment."

Jane straightened. "I think it might have something to do with Hoyt, sir."

"Which is why you're under guard." Cavanaugh continued to frown at her. "Go home, Rizzoli. Get some sleep."

"No, I…"

"Jane…" It was Maura's soft voice this time, and she gently squeezed Jane's arm. "You can stay at my place. We'll come back first thing in the morning."

She supposed there wasn't really space in Frankie's room for three people anyway. Angela couldn't be dragged from her son's bedside by wild horses, and Tommy promised he would look after them both. So, despite any of Jane's protests, she found herself once again in Maura's Lexus.

* * *

Even in light of everything that had happened that night and the past few days, Maura's street in Brookline was familiar and comforting. Houses with faintly glowing windows, family places, and the only disruption came from the occasional group of chatty students taking the long way from the Boston University campus to restaurants in Coolidge Corner.

Both women were distracted as they got ready for bed. Jane realized the minute she lay down that she really was exhausted, but the minute she closed her eyes, her brain started whirling. Of course. She tossed and turned for a good hour on the guest bed, fighting a losing battle with her hyperactive brain before finally giving in and slipping out of the room.

Dim light filtered in from the streetlamps outside, casting yellow lines across the kitchen and living room. Jane padded towards the large refrigerator and had just flipped on the lights above the island when something banged into her leg. Hard.

"Jesus Christ, Bass!" Jane hissed. She looked down in alarm at the tortoise now blinking up at her, his neck extended to a comical length. He let out a disgruntled little hissing noise. Jane glared at him, then took a strawberry from a bowl on the counter before crouching down to make peace with the reptile. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

Bass blinked at her, then took a slow bite of the strawberry.

"I'm sorry I startled you," Jane said, wondering how tired she really was that she found talking to a tortoise to be a logical course of action. "You don't have to give me bruises though."

"He's just showing dominance, Jane."

Again she jumped. "Maura!" Jane glared up at her friend. She gave Bass the rest of the strawberry, saying, "I see where you get the whole sneaking up on people thing." Jane got to her feet and watched Maura go to the cupboard to take down two mugs. "Dominance? Does he head butt your legs in the middle of the night?"

"He knows me," Maura said. She held up a mug. "I'll make you some herbal tea."

Jane made a face. "Aw, no, Maura, I hate herbal tea." But the look she got from her friend told her she couldn't argue about this one. As Maura started the water boiling, Jane moved to sit at the island. "I just couldn't seem to shut my brain off."

"The tea will help." Maura turned to look at her. "I couldn't sleep either. Too preoccupied."

"Yeah." Absently reaching down to rub where Bass had hit her leg, Jane let out a long sigh.

They took the tea into the living room and sat down on the couch. Jane took one sniff of the tea and made a face.

"What?" Maura looked at her.

"Lavender? Really?"

"It's helpful as a sleep aid…"

Jane shook her head and set the cup aside. "I think I've had enough of lavender for a while." She shifted, tucking her feet under her and resting her head on Maura's shoulder. After a few minutes of listening to Maura sip the tea she said softly, "You were right. Accused wasn't the right word."

Maura blinked. "Sorry?"

"What I said about Ma calling us a couple."

"So are you saying we are a couple?" Maura giggled.

Jane rolled her eyes and sat up, giving her friend's arm a playful little push. "I just mean I'm glad that I've got you. And I know I'm not exactly the safest person to be around, especially now, so maybe that's selfish of me to say but…"

"No," Maura said simply. She smiled and turned to press a light kiss to Jane's cheek before settling back against the arm of the couch.


End file.
